My parenting strategy lately for dealing with Sam is "don't piss her off". Let her have whatever she wants, let her think every idea she has is a good one, and give her the space and freedom she needs to try it all on her own first. Sam makes Ian look like he was easy at this age.
A few examples of the almost 3 foot creature I am dealing with --
Ian never even asked or attempted to want to buckle his own car seat until he was close to turning 5. Meanwhile, Sam is constantly saying "try...try....try...try...try" to buckling it on her own each and EVERY TIME we get in the car. Have you seen car seat buckles? They are not easy for a reason! It wasn't meant for a 2 year old to do. Now I add in 10 extra minutes before going anywhere so that Sam can "try....try....try...try...and try some more" to buckle her own car seat. A few times she has actually gotten the chest strap on her own. This gets an instant round of applause from her, a big smile on her face and the words "good girl" coming out of her mouth giving herself praise.
We can't pass a bathroom in our house without her saying "peepee...potty...peepee...potty...". Then she proceeds to take off her clothing and diaper and get herself to the closest bathroom. She will arrange the potty seat on her own and attempt to climb up on top of the toilet. At which point, she will start taking all the toilet paper off the roll and use it to put in the toilet. She is not sure what to do with it, she just knows it needs to go in the toilet. Once the roll is depleted, she will yell "helpppppppppppppp" until you come get her down. Then she stands near the toilet and says "try....flush.....try....flush....try....". Oh, what fun!
When it is time for breakfast, lunch, or dinner, Sam runs to the table to take Ian's seat. Ian has had the same seat since he was 1 years old. Now that Sam is aware of our places at the table, she likes to start trouble and take his seat before he can get to it. When she thinks no one is looking, she will switch plates and cups with hers and take his.
In the morning, when I go to pick out Sam's clothing, she will follow me and say "no match" at whatever I am picking out. She will then stand there and point to what she wants to wear. Most likely it is a pair of pajamas or winter dress, or tights over her shorts. Yesterday, Sam went out wearing her shorts and monkey rain boats that come up to her knees. By the way, it was almost 100 degrees and sunny outside.
If her face is dirty and I go to wipe it, I get told "no clean....no clean....NO CLEAN!!!!" until I stop.
Most of the time when we look at her, she will give a very loud scream in return -- for no reason at all.
I am not able to wash the dishes or load/unload the dishwasher without Sam constantly being right under foot to help. She quickly runs for her step stool and before I can even turn on the water, she is in place to do it herself.
When I am in the kitchen and preparing a meal, she pops up next to me, will get a knife out of the drawer and start trying to cut something in half. It doesn't matter what it is, but if am cutting something, then she needs to be too.
This past week we had 3 really bad nights of her sleeping, or should I say, not sleeping?:
Night 1: Woke-up at 4:40am - up for the day, bright-eyed and ready to party!
Night 2: Woke-up at 12:20am - We went back in her room about 10 times telling her to lay down and go back to sleep. The minute we left the room, she would pop back up and continue screaming. At 1:00am, we decided to let her cry/scream it out until she exhausted herself and went back to sleep. She never did! Sam stayed awake the whole entire time, standing too and screaming non-stop.
Night 3: Woke-up at 3:40am. This time we got her out of her crib instantly and put her in bed with us. She laid there kicking me in the back until 5:00am and then finally fell asleep until 8:00am.
I keep telling myself every day (sometimes every hour) that is all just a stage. I know she will grow out of it and there will be something else waiting for me to deal with. I have started implementing time-outs. I think she understands what I am doing, because she will put her head down and not look at me when I am talking to her about what she did wrong.
I feel bad for Ian. He is so patient when it comes to her. Even when he is trying to eat his breakfast and Sam runs over and starts pushing him out of his chair. He will ignore her and attempt to continue eating. Or, Sam will pull whatever food he is holding in his hand and quickly shove it in her mouth. Poor kid. He deserves better than that. That is an instant time-out! At least it gives Ian a few minutes of peace to finish eating while Sam is serving her time.
I've said it before and I'll say it again, it is a good thing she is cute!
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